Game



Oct. 6, 1931. T. s. HUTCHISON GAME Filed Feb. .25. 1929 NW 0 w w J N MT E w m m5 T 5 A AY 5 0 m Patented 6, 1931 a PATENT? OFFICE THOMAS S HUTOHISON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS GAME Application filed February 25, 1929. Serial No. 342,849.

' a sheet suitable material, or an equivalent base which may be a framework of any kind, supporting a plurality of inclined runways in zig-zag arrangement, by which rolling counters placed on the upper runwayor runways, will roll by gravity down the runways one after another until the lower end of the lowermost runway is reached. The counters employed may be of any form that will roll readily on the runways, for example spherivcal or cylindrical, and these counters preferably carry convenient identifying means, for example difl'erent numerals, letters, or colorings, so that the difierent players may readily distinguish their counters from each other, there being usuallyat least as many counters em loyed as players.

y my inventiomthe runways are purposely arranged so that at difierent points in the travel of the counters from the top to the bottom ofjthe runways, alternate paths are provided for the counters, as a result of which, at each of these points, a counter may go one way, or it may go the other, depending upon its inertia at the time, or upon the manner in which it may be hit by others of the counters. This, together with the fact that the only force acting upon the counters is gravity, preeludes the possibility of the players being able to in any way interfere wit the progress of the counters, or to determine which one of them will first arrive at the lower end of the lowermost runway, regardless of the position and relation of the counters at the starting point, and the complete uncertainty involved,

is at the same time delightful and fascinating.

In addition to theconstruction of the runways and the nature of the counters employed, my invention also includes devices by which the counters may readily be moved by a single operation from the lower end of the lowermost runway to the place of beginning on the uppermost run'way,'and I also include mechanism by which the counters may be lined up and held in their initial position onthe uppermost runway before making any play, to the end that the relative positions of the different countersat the start may be observed, and that all of the-counters may be counter.

simultaneously freed to start on their downward course. 1

While the game described affords the possibility of many systems of play, with corresponding rules regarding scoring, I find an interesting system is to credit each player with a certain number of points depending upon the position of his counter at the end of each play; for example if in first place, ten points, if in second place eight points, if in third place six points, etc., the total number otpoints of each game being so taken as to average the uncertainties of the play,- so that the player first having this number. of points to his credit, for example one hundred points, wins, the game. Again, interesting variety may be given the game by increasing the credit of eachplayer by an amount determined by the position of his counter in the starting line, for example, if the winner was first in the starting line no additional credit,

if second, one point additional, if third, two points additional, etc. and correspondingly for the other counters. Again, the points scored may be restricted to the three, or some other number of counters, which are nearest to the lower end of the lowermost runway at the finish of each play, and, if desired, penalties may be imposed on counters if they are not in the winning group when their position at the starting point is such that they should finish in the winning group, for example if one of the leading three counters at the starting point'is not in the first three oi the counters at'the end of each play, one or more points may be deducted from the score of each player having the corresponding My invention will best be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings showing a preferred embodiment thereof, in

which 7 Fig. 1 shows in plan view my improved game board with counters thereon in the position of beginning a play,

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional'v'iew of the parts shown in Fig. 1, taken along the line Fig. 3 is a sectional View to an enlarged scale, of a part of the construction shown in Fig. 1, taken along the line 3-3,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view to an enlarged scale, of a part of the construction shown in Fi 1, taken along the line M,

Fig. 5 is a sectional view to an enlarged scale, of a part of the construction shown in Fi 1, taken along the line 5-5,

Fig. 6 shows in elevation to an enlarged scale, one of the counters of spherical form that may be used, and

Fig. 7 shows in perspective view to an enlarged scale, a cylindrical type of counter that may be used.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, my im roved game board consists of a base 10, pre erably flat, or substantially so, of any suitable material, for example metal, wood, cardboard, or any material having sufiicient rigidity to hold the parts in the relation indicated. The base 10 has edge flanges 11 projecting forwardly from it and at substantially right angles to its plane, to stiffen the base and protect the parts carried b it. The outer edges of the flanges 11, pre erably have second flanges 12 extending from them towards each other to further reinforce the structure and give it a pleasing appearance. Where the base 10 is of sheet metal, the flanges 11 and 12 are conveniently formed by bending portions of the base to the form indicated in Fig. 2. The right hand flange 12 as shown in Fig. 1, forms one member of a vertical uideway, the other member of which is ormed by a strip 13 of flanged metal, the resulting channel construction containing an elevator block 14, which freely slides in the channel for a purpose to be described.

As shown in Fig. 4., the elevator block 14 is provided in its upper portion, with a groove 15 of suflicient size to receive all of the counters to be used simultaneously in playing the game, and as indicated in Fig. 1, the bottom of the groove is inclined downwardly towards the strip 13 so that the counters tend to roll in the groove 15 towards the strip 13. Between the strip 13 and the vertical edge of the board remote from it, a plurality of runways 16 to 30 inclusive are disposed as indicated, these runwaysbeln preferably of sheet metal bent to the form s own in Fig. 2,

and each having flan es on its edges, one of which is secured to t e base 10 in any convenient manner, for example by riveting, spot welding or equivalent means, while the other of the flanges projects upwardly to form a retainingzwall to hold. the counters on the runways. ach of the runways is inclined downwardly towards its delivery end, so that the counters will roll on the runway ,and pass from one runway to another in the course of their travel during any oneplay of the game. In line with the upper end of the runway 16, an opening 31 is formed through the strip 13, so that when the elevator block 14 is 'raised by a' handle 32 attached thereto, the counters in the grove 15 are raised until the groove 15 is in lme with the openin 31, at which time the counters roll from t e groove 15 through the opening 31 onto the runway,16, and thus down the runway, 16 and over the runways one after another until the lower end of the runway 30 is reached. It will be understood that in using the game, the base 10 is elevated at its upper edge, so that the counters will freely roll down the several runways. The runway 16 extends laterally for about half of the width of the runway space, and in line with its lower end, a stop 33 is secured to the base 10, preventing each counter as it hits the stop, from freely continuing in the direction of motion im arted to it by the runway 16, so that it must rop upon the upper end of one of the runways 17 and 18, depending upon I the amount of rebound imparted to it by striking the stop 33. The stop 33 is preferably of sheet metal bent to a form similar to that of the runways,excepting that it extends vertically to constitute a stop, instead of downwardly to form a runway for the counters. Each of the runways 17 and 18 is of a length extending from the midportion of the runway space, nearly to the the side edge of the space, one of the runways extending downwardly in one direction and the other downwardly in the other direction, the upper ends of these runways being adjacent each other and disposed between the lower end of the runway 16 and the stop 33, so that each counter may be caused to enter either the runway 17 or the runway 18, depending upon its rebound from the stop 33, there being a suflicient clearance between the lower end of the runway 16 and the runway 18 to permit the counters to pass freely under the runway 16. The runways l7 and- 18 terminate at a sufficient distance from the edges of the runway space, to permit the counters to pass freely from the ends of these runways and downwardly upon the next runways 19 and 20 respectively, the upper ends of which latter runways are adjacent the side edges of the runway space and sufliciently below' the lower ends of the runways 17 and 18 so that the counters will pass freely below the runways 17 and 18. The lower end of the runway 19 is disposed above the lower portion of the runway 20, the latter being preferably considerably longer than the runway 18, so as to extend beyond the lower end of the runway 19, and sufficiently below the lower end of the runway 19 so that counters may pass freely below the runway 19. In this manner some of the counters may find their way to the runway 19, and some tothe runway 20, and, depending upon the velocity of the counters, there may. occur many different conditions of interference and sequence of delivery of the counters at the lower end of the runway 20. All of the counters, howters delivered to the runway 21 is sufliciently great, due to their rolling down the runway20. The runway 21 is sufiiciently below the lower end of the runway so that the counters may pass freely below the runway 20, and the runway. 22 extends substantially parallel with the runway 21 and sufliciently below it so that counters rolling on the run way 22 will clear the runway 21. The runway 22 extends at its lower end beyond the lower end of the runway 21 so that all of the counters moving downwardly on the runway 21 are delivered to the runway 22. The

. counters are delivered by the runway 22 to the runway 23, which is similar to the runway 21, excepting that it is inclined in the opposite direction. The runway 23 has disposed below it and substantially parallel with it, a runway 24 for receiving the counters that may roll over the runway 23 by the velocity imparted to them by the runway 22. The difference between the relation of the runways 23 and 24 and the runways 21 and 22, is that the runway 24 is considerably shorter ban the runway 23 so that both the runway 23 and 24 deliver counters from their lower ends to the runway 25, which later runway has a clearance space aroundits upper end by which counters may roll over it and drop upon the upper end of the runway 26 which is substantially'parallel with the runway and sufiiciently below it so that the counters will clear the runway 25.

The runway 25 extends nearly across the runway space and delivers the counters from its lower endupon the runway 27 which also receive counters delivered from the lower end of the runway 26, the clearances between the runway 27 and the lower ends of the runways 25 and 26 bein sufiicient to allow the counters to pass free y under the lower end of the runways 25 and 26.

The runways 27, 28, 29 and 30 have their upper ends at alternate sides of the runway space beginning at the right hand side as shown, and each delivers-counters rolling upon it, to the runway immediately below it.

The runway 30 extends entirely across the runway space, so that its lower end is in line with an aperture 33 in the strip 13, and in line vertically with the groove 15 in the block 14, when the block is in its posit-ion of rest, indicated in Fig. 1. -It will be noted that the .block 14oarr1es on its under sur- ,face a spring 34 which serves to cushion the fall of the block, if it is permitted to fall freely after having been raised to its uppermost position. The spring 34 also serves a further purpose as" follows: As shown ;in Figs. 4 and 5, thef rontwall 15a of the groove 15 is of substantial thickness and overlaps the aperture 33 when the block 14 is in the position shown in Fig; 1. This prevents the passage of the counters from the runway 30 into the" groove 15, so that the se uence of the counters in the order that they nish any I play, may be observed. A guide block '35 is secured to the base 10 to cause the counters to line up with the aperture 33, and the groove 15'is oifse't laterally relatively to the aperture33, due to the thickness of the front wall 15a of the groove. When the sequence of the counters on the lower end of the runand the aperture 33 above referred to, pre-- vents the counters in the grooves 15 from interfering with the raising of the block 14,

in moving the counters upwardly for delivery through the opening 31 in the strip 13.

It will be noted that while all of the runways starting at either side of the runway space, incline downwardly towards the other side of said space. some of the runways extend but part way across the runway space and are so related to others of the runways that the rolling counters may under certain conditions be delivered to difl'erent ones of the runways in a manner rearranglng the sequence of the counters relatively to their starting sequence, which operation is facilitated by spacing the upper ends of some of the runways from the adjacent side of the runway space, to permit the counters to roll by inertia from the latter runways over their upper ends, all of which, combined with the uncertainty as to whether the counters will roll down the runway 17 or runway 18, imparts a great amount of uncertainty to the movement of the counters, inaking it impossible to anticipate the sequence of the count ers when they finally arrive at the lower end of the lowermost runway.

Where the game board is made of large size, and particularly where the game is played by children, I find it convenient to attach a flexible cord 36 to the block 14, which cord passes upwardly through an eye 37, or equivalent device, so that a ring 38 attached to the other end of the cord 36 may to raise the block 14 and the counters car- I ried thereby.

.:for the play of the game.

In-some cases, I find it imparts added interest tothe game to have the counters in definite starting position on the runway 16 before each play. This I accomplish by providing above the runway 16, and in the path of the counters on said runway, a plate or barrier 39 carried by a lever 40 pivotally sccured to the base 10 at 41, and having at its end adjacent the strip 13, an outwardly extending arm 42 to which the upper end of a cord or wire 43 is secured, the lower end of said cord or wire being provided with a ring 44 within the convenient reach of the players, so that when the counters are in the position indicated at 45 in Fig. 1 on the" runway 16, they are prevented from rolling 7 down the runway by the plate 39 and any desired sequence may be given the counters depending upon the particular rules adopted The left hand end of the lever '40 being heavier than its right hand end, the plate 39 retains its position indicated in F ig. 1, until the ring 44 is pulled downwardly, which raises the plate 39 and trees all of the counters simultaneously, so that they have equal advantage as to starting, excepting for the particular sequence in which they my be arranged for any particular play.

The counters employed in playing the game may be of any construction that will roll down the runways to accomplish the contemplated result." For example, in Fig. 6 I illustrate one of the counters at am, as consisting of a sphere of any suitable material which may bear a designating character of any convenient kind and further may have a distinctive color to distinguish it from other counters of the same shape which may be differently colored,particularly if numerals or designating characters are not affixed to the counters. As

illustrative of a different type of counter, in

Fig. 7 I illustrate at 45?) a cylindrical counter which may be provided with a distinctive character or coloring, or both, and may be of any material that will cause the counter to roll down the runways as above described.

While I have shown my invention in the particular embodiment above described, it will be understood that I do not limitmyself to this exact construction as I may employ equivalents known to the art at the time of the filing of this application without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is: 1. In a game, the combination of a base, runways in zig-zag arrangement and inclined downwardly on said base to receive and guide a plurality of rolling counters from an upper part to a lower part of said base, certain of said runways having outlets at both ends, up-

per ones of said runways having their lower ends adjacent to andin counter delivering relation with lower ones of said runways successively, and rolling counters, each of said runways comprising. a member extending from said base and having a'sur'face for supporting said counters and a flange extending upwardly from the outer portion of said surface.

3. In a game, the combination of a base,

runways for rolling counters, extending from an upper part of said base to a lower part thereof, guideways from'the lower end of said runways to the upper end thereof, and an elevator block movable in said guideways to raise counters to the upper end of said runways, one of said guideways having therein an upper opening in line with the upper end of said runways and a lower opening in line with the lower end of said runways, said elevator block having a groove for receiving counters through said lower opening and delivering said counters through said upper opening.

4. In a game, the combination of a base, runways for rolling counters extending from an upper partof said base to a lower part thereof. guideways from the lower end of said runways to the upper end thereof, and an elevator block movable in said guideways to raise counters to the upper end of said runways, one of said guideways having therein an upper opening in line with the upper end of said runways and a lower opening in line with the lower end of said runways, said elevator block having a groove for receiving counters through said lower opening and delivering said counters through said upper opening, said elevator block having a lower position of rest and a second lower position to which it may be moved and said groove having a wall overlapping said lower opening for said position of rest and thereby holding counters on the lower end portion of said runways, said lower opening being in counterdelivering relation to said block for said second lower position of said block.

5. In a garlic, the combination of a base, runways for rolling counters extending from an upper part of said base to a lower part thereof, guideways from the lower end of said. runways to the upper end thereof, an elevator block movable in said guideways to raise counters to the upper end of said runways, one of said guideways having therein an upper opening in line with the upper end of said runwaysand a lower opening in line with the lower end of said runways, said elevator block having a groove vfor receiving. counters through said lower opening anddelivering said counters through said upper opening, said elevator block having a lower position of rest and a second lower position to which it may be moved and said groove having a wall overlapping said lower opening' for said position of rest and thereby holding counters on the lower end portion of said runways, said loweropening being in counter-delivering relation to said block for said second lower position of said block,

' and a spring tending to hold said block in its lower position of rest.

6. In a game, the combination of a base, runways for rolling counters extending from an upper part of said base toa lower part thereof, guideways from the lower end of said runways to the upper end thereof, an,

elevator block movable in said guideways to raise counters to the upper end of said run-'. ways, one of said giudeways having therein an upper opening in line w1th the upper end of said runways and a lower opening in line with the lower end of said runways, said elevator block having a groovefor receiving trough shaped inclined runways arranged one above the other and adapted to deliver rolling elements fro'm one to another as said elements travel downwardly, certain of said runways being provided with discharge outlets at both ends and the others of said runways being each provided with a discharge outlet at one end only, thereby to eflect a rearrangement of the sequence of the rolling elements as they travel downwardly on said runways.

10. A game comprising a plurality of trough shaped inclined runways arranged one above the other and adapted to deliver rolling elements from one to another as said elements travel downwardly, certain of said runways being providedwith discharge outlets at both ends, thereby to eiiectarearrange- In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 20th day of February, A. D.

' THOMAS S. HUTCHISON.

counters through said lower opening and delivering said, counters through said upper opening,-sa'id elevatorblock having a lower position of rest and a second lower position to which it may be moved and said groove having a wall overlapping said loweropening for said position of rest and thereby holdingcounters on the lower end portion of said runways, said lower opening being in counter-deliveryrelation to said block for said second lower position of said block, and a spring tending to hold said block in its lower position of rest, said spring being carried. by said block and cushioning its impact at the lower end of said guideways.

- 7. In a game, the combination of a base, runways in zig-zag arrangement .and inclined downwardly on said base to receiveand guide a plurality of rolling counters from an upper part to a lower part of said base, certain of said runways having outlets at both ends, tending to efiect a rearrangement of the sequence of the counters as they travel downwardly on said runways.

8. In a game, the combinationbf a base, runways in zig-zag arrangement and inclined downwardly on said base to receive and guide a plurality of rolling counters from an upper part to a lower part of said base,

some of said runways delivering said count- 

